From the beginning of this journey of thinking about adoption the question that Mark and I kept asking ourselves was “If not us, then who?”

If we aren’t willing to open our home to the orphan can we expect our unbelieving neighbors to do it?

What about those in Christ’s church who don’t want to be inconvenienced with more than 1.7 children, are they the ones who will sacrifice for the little ones who need someone?

God had made this so clear to us. Despite my misgivings, He had called us to care for these two children and with that call, He would give us everything that we needed to accomplish this task.

As it turned out, our time with those two foster kids (they stayed with us for the month of May) was, apart from the lice fiasco, wonderfully blessed. Those two little ones were sweet and affectionate. They even sat through our 1 1/2 hour family integrated worship service each Sunday like little pros (Interestingly, all 4 of the foster kids that we’ve had so far have done better than I ever expected sitting with our family during church services).

They opened up to Amber (16) and me right away

and by the end of the week they were chummy with everyone (except the little girl was very shy of my husband, Mark).

But by the end of their visit she ran to give him hugs when he got home from work just like the rest of them.

They fit in beautifully with our family and we had lots of jumping on the trampoline,

watching (participating in) track meets,

wading in the creek,

and just hanging out together.

Not all of our placements have been this easy (we’ve had 4 children since May), but we know that this is where God has called our family at this time and are grateful for His guidance and blessing to our family.

Our heart is still for adoption, but for this day and this time, we are grateful for the children, mothers, fathers and families that God has brought into our life and for the opportunity to serve Him by serving them.

“Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” ~Mark 9:37

We’ve been thankful for the Safe Families organization for providing the structure and fitting us with the needs so that our family has been able to provide homes for children whose families are in crisis.

Our hearts have always been open to adoption and fostering, but due to the states regulation on available finances, we are “not qualified”. My heart broke when I heard those words. How do you tell a child who is sitting in state institution that they can’t go to a loving home because the state has decided that the family in the home “just doesn’t have enough money”. We are overflowing with love and acceptance and we would certainly not let our financial situation change of that. I understand the states concern that it will strain the receiving family, but it becomes apparent that they look only at surface things to approve a family and not what the family is built upon. My heart is utterly broken, I have had to give up a dream I have had since I was a child because someone decided I didn’t have enough money to love a child.

Don’t give up. If it is on your heart, God has called you to it. If one person says NO…that is God saying, “wrong turn”. Find someone else. You will have to go thru the state to foster but you can thru a private agency to adopt a foster child/ren too. Don’t let one person/office/agency step in the way of God. Just a wrong turn that God is redirecting you from. If I would have let those NO people put a skid to my dreams/calling….I wouldn’t have had my 3rd biological child and have adopted 15 more. {{HUGS}}

We also don’t meet the basic qualifications for adopting through the foster system (too many children in the home), nor do we meet financial qualifications for international adoption, but there are no specific regulations for private adoptions. That what we have been pursuing because it’s the only path for which we are qualified.

My husband and I had to giggle at the “lice fiasco”… Last fall we “fostered” a group of 5 children through our church…within the week we discovered lice. UGH!! Praise the Lord for a precious friend who came to help with the laundry…and a mom and sister-in-law to comb out the hair. 6 weeks ago, we brought home 5 kids (we have 3 bio)..making a total of 8…these little ones are ours permanently through adoption. We discovered 3 weeks in one of the little ones had a bad lice infestation…while the last time most of us were spared…this time we ALL suffered. It was definitely an experience. I must say…while our times have been tiring and hard…God continues to guide and sustain. We see blessings already. May God continue to guide you and your family on this adventure.

May God bless you on this journey! I just wrote a post about how foster siblings influenced my parenting… http://raisingcropsandbabies.blogspot.com/
There were 7 of us biological children and my parents fostercared sibling groups. While some bad things definitely happened, I am thankful my parents followed God’s will for their lives. You might never know the affect you will have on these children, but take comfort in the fact you are teaching your children the importance of caring for those in special need. While some of my foster siblings went on to call my parents “mom ” and “dad” and send them mother’s day/father’s day cards as adults (none were adopted though), others were imprisoned for burglary and violence, and others we never heard from again once they left our house (my parents fostered over 60 children)… It’s a big calling and bless you on it!